Mirror sports honored nationally

February 26, 2009

The Mirror sports staff once again has been recognized in the Associated Press Sports Editors annual nationwide contest.

Sports writer Cory Giger won Top 10 recognition for column writing on various local topics such as Penn State football and the Altoona Curve, as well as explanatory writing for his story on the challenges and stereotypes facing black and white quarterbacks.

Sports Editor Buck Frank won Top 10 recognition in the project reporting category for his "Big Shots" series recognizing and ranking the biggest 20 shots in Blair County high school basketball history.

The Mirror's "Inside Pitch,'' the annual preseason primer to the Curve season designed by Giger, Frank and graphic artist Tom Worthington II with photography by J.D. Cavrich, was judged as one of the 10 best special sections.

This marks the seventh straight year the Mirror has been recognized by APSE.

"We're very proud of our entire sports department, and we're especially pleased for Cory and Buck, two extremely hard-working and talented sports journalists," Mirror Managing Editor Neil Rudel said. "This is a great area for sports, and we appreciate that our coverage has been judged at a high level."

Giger has now won four APSE national writing awards in the past two years, and "Inside Pitch'' has earned four Top 10 recognitions in the past five years, including three in a row.

The Mirror competes in the circulation category of newspapers under 40,000.